A Day at the Races
by Acepilot6
Summary: Show age fic. The trials and tribulations of the school athletics carnival. Please review! Chapter 3 up, Chapter 4 next week.
1. Chapter 1

**A Day at the Races**

Acepilot

AN – This fic is set with the kids at show age (or near to it) and is an episode about the school athletics day. I'm seriously trying to break away from my old style of fanfiction, so I hope you guys can give me some feedback to tell me how it's going so far. It would be massively appreciated.

Disclaimer – the characters in this fic are property of Klasky-Csupo.

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Act I

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Phil was the first one there, if only because he was, perhaps, the only one with any enthusiasm for the whole affair at all. Lil and Kimi were not too far behind, carrying signs with somewhat derogatory (but always polite) slogans written on them which suggested how they felt about the whole situation. Chuckie came next, looking unconcerned but not enthused, but it was Dil's appearance that caused the first real stir of the morning.

"Alright, I'm going to warn you now – it's not looking pretty," he told them.

"Does it ever?" Phil asked.

"He's determined," the young Pickles confided in them, "and if you think you've seen him determined before…you ain't seen nothing yet."

"He's taking it _that _seriously?" Lil asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah. He's –"

Precisely what Dil felt he was would be lost forever, as at that exact moment, Tommy Pickles appeared behind his little brother, a fire in his eyes that none of the gang had seen before in their lives. He was ready, he was set, he was going to go.

"Hey guys," he said, simply, plainly, and somewhat anti-climactically. Phil and Kimi both blew out breaths neither of them realised they'd been holding.

"Hey, Tommy," Chuckie greeted his best friend enthusiastically. "So, are you ready?"

"And willing," Tommy said, the glint in his eyes brightening somehow.

"Arlight…" Phil says, drawing the word out and looking slightly concerned at his friend's maniacal grin. "Let's do this then?"

Pangborn's voice blared out at them from a loudspeaker attached to a nearby pole, gruff and crackly from the bad equipment quality. "Alright, you slackers, let's go. School athletics day is about to begin, and I want you all to do your best, or else!"

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"You know you two are going to get in really big trouble for this," Phil commented, looking over his sister and Kimi.

The girls were reclining in banana lounges with their signs posted into the ground behind them, displaying their contempt for the event for all to see. "Why? There's only a rule that says we have to be here. There's no rule that says we have to compete," Lil told him.

"Actually, there is," Chuckie pointed out.

"Have you been paying attention to our protests at all?" Kimi asked him, sounding somewhere between pained and insulted. "The point is that _there shouldn't be_ a rule that says we have to compete. This whole thing is a shambles!"

"We get no free water! No shade! No food to keep us going over this long day in the blazing sun!" Lil agreed emphatically. "We shouldn't have to put up with this!"

"Damn straight!" Kimi gave her a high-five.

Phil observed them critically for a few more seconds, before shaking his head and shrugging. "Women. Mad creatures."

"What are you competing in so many events for, anyway?" Kimi asked. "Trying to impress a girl or something?"

Phil laughed out loud at that. "Hell no. Let's face it – I'm not exactly setting the school alight with academic records. Maybe I'll do better in sport. It's something to shoot for."

Dil appeared at his side. "Hey, Phil, we've got a problem."

Phil turned to his friend. "'We' as in you and me, or we as in Pacific House."

"Pacific House," Dil told him, tugging on his green shirt, which matched Phil's singlet. "We're short a runner for the relay. Matt hasn't showed up."

"It's only nine-thirty!" Phil exclaimed. "Give him some time."

Dil shrugged. "I know, I know…but I've got a bad feeling about this…"

"Well…start looking for an emergency. But don't stress, Dil, we've got all day." Phil looked over at Chuckie, who was similarly clad in all green. "You wouldn't want to join in, would you Chuckie?"

The red-head laughed nervously. "Uh…seriously? No."

Phil smiled and turned back to Dil. "Seriously, Dil, don't stress about it. Matt'll be here. And if he's not, then we'll find someone else to tap."

Dil nodded but looked far from confident.

Phil, Dil and Chuckie's attention was caught by the sound of a familiar voice yelling, "Augh!" before they heard Kimi and Lil shriek.

The three of them turned to see Tommy, having been on a practice run-up and getting caught by surprise by Kimi and Lil's signs, completely mistime the end of his dash and trip over on Lil's chair. He went careening down into the middle of the two, ending up draped across their laps.

He turned bright red. "Sorry. I guess instead of having the girls falling all over me, I'm falling all over the girls, huh?" he quipped.

"That's okay," Lil assured him, patting him on the head, before exchanging a quick glance with Kimi.

Who grabbed his feet and, in time with Lil perfectly, rolled him off them and dumped him unceremoniously on the ground.

"Ow."

Phil looked at him levelly and spoke in a perfectly even tone. "I don't know what was worse. The run-up, or the pick-up line."

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please review.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Day at the Races  
**Acepilot

AN – Wow! I got seven reviews in one day for a 900 word chapter! This is…different…thank you all for reviewing! Very, very much! In response to Hopeless' questions – Matt is also the name of the friend from Deciduous, yes. Whoops. Actually, Races and the Road series have no relation to each other, but yeah, I probably could have been a bit more creative. And as for Pacific House – at all the Schools I've been to, the houses have been named after something specific – explorers, lakes in the region, birds, or streets in the immediate vicinity. I've chosen to be nicely vague and go with Oceans. So…

Phil, Dil, and Chuckie are a part of **Pacific House** (green).

Tommy and Lil are from **Atlantic House **(red).

Kimi is from **Southern House** (blue).

And there is also an **Arctic House** (yellow) but no-one important is in it.

Disclaimer – see act 1.

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Act 2

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"Alright, everyone!" Pangborn's voice wailed over the bullhorn, "let's see you in your houses. Now!"

With their typical disdain, everyone ignored him.

Seeing little other option, he just growled into the bullhorn and stormed over to the scoring table.

"Think he'll ever stop trying?" Kimi asked Lil, not bothering to turn to look at the other girl. They both lay, quite appropriately lounging in their banana lounges, not a care in the world, and certainly no sport on the agenda.

"Probably not," Lil told her, reaching for a can of lemonade. "Drink?"

"Nah, I'll be right," Kimi told her.

This time, it was O'Keat's voice that came over the speakers, not Pangborn's. Whether the vice-principal had gone on to host some event or had just given up on working with the students, no-one was certain. "As usual, the opening events will be the sprints. Everyone is to assemble in their age groups and genders across the north side of the oval. You will be given further instruction from there."

Phil looked up at the speaker. "Well, I guess that's our cue," he said, looking around. "Has Matt shown up yet?"

"No," Dil said, starting to look unusually pale.

Phil shrugged. "It's alright. We don't need him for the individual stuff. Everyone knows he's our best runner, he can come in on the relay this afternoon."

"Alright," Dil said. The younger boy dug around in his bag and withdrew a ludicrously tall top hat which had been dyed in shades of green. He put it on, tugged it down a bit to secure it, and turned to Phil. "What do you think?"

Phil raised an eyebrow. "For lack of a better word…"

"Alright! Where are all you slackers. The lady said to get to your age groups now, so move it!"

Tommy groaned. "But I don't _want_ to sprint! It'll ruin my legs for the long jump."

"It won't be that bad," Chuckie assured him.

"Won't be that bad? Chuckie, I _have_ to win the long jump. I _have _to!"

"Why?" Chuckie asked, genuinely puzzled. "Why the long jump? Why anything at all?"

"Because I never have, and I know I can!" Tommy told him. "I know I can do it. Every year, I come second. And now, I've only got two more chances. And if I don't win this year, then I probably won't win next year, either, and then we're on to high school, where it gets even more competitive, and I'll have to –"

"Breathe."

"Yeah, breathe and run and –"

"No, seriously, Tommy, you've got to breathe or your going to pass out," Chuckie told him. "Look, Tommy, if you're really determined, if you really want to win, then nothing's going to stop you. Certainly not the fact that you've sprinted at the start of the day. And all your competitors will have had the same problem."

The purple-haired Pickles sighed. "I know, I know. I just…I've got to do it, Chuckie."

"And you will," Chuckie told him. "Now, come on, before Pangborn comes looking."

Tommy left Chuckie at the red-head's older age group with a sigh, approaching the line in which he could see Phil and – just beyond – Dil, chatting about something or other.

"Is it against the rules to conspire with the enemy?" Tommy asked miserably, stepping up to stand next to the DeVille boy.

Phil appraised him coolly. "Well, normally us Pacifics wouldn't be caught dead socialising with you Atlantic scum, but we'll make an exception."

Tommy grinned at him. "Ah yes, the Pacific elitism runs deep." He indicated his own red athletics outfit. "But it doesn't run fast."

"You won't even see me on the track, Pickles," Phil declared, putting something of a western swagger into his voice. "Just a blurry afterimage of something that might have been me."

"But then, it might have been a blowfly," Tommy bantered. This was what he needed, to take his mind of – certain things that he needed to be taking his mind off. It wouldn't do him any good to get caught up in thinking about –

Thankfully for Tommy Pickles, he was provided with an ideal distraction in the form of Lil DeVille and Kimi Finster storming past, arguing at the top of their lungs, easily audible over the dull roar of conversation from the assembled masses.

Lil, her face as red as her clothes, was charging after a blue-clad Kimi. "You get back here!"

"I didn't mean it," Kimi tossed over her shoulder.

"Yes you did!" Lil insisted. "Do you deny calling me an inferior athlete?"

"I didn't say that, Lil," Kimi said, finally turning to face her counterpart. "I just said that it was a good thing for everyone that I wasn't competing, because I would wipe the floor with them – "

"And you implied that I wouldn't!" Lil roared.

The conversations happening throughout the front edges of the crowd had died down as everyone turned to face this new, far more entertaining element of athletics day. The perennial favourite – the personal rivalry.

"I never said that –"

"That doesn't mean you didn't mean it!"

"Alright! So yes, I think I would beat you!" There was a collective gasp from the surrounds, to which Kimi merely replied, "Oh, shut up."

"Alright, girly, you're on!" Lil announced, stepping up to be nose-to-nose with her new-found nemesis. "You won't know what hit you by the end of the day!"

"Bring it on," Kimi hissed.

Phil stepped forward. "Uh, girls, maybe –"

"Back off!"

Phil backed away from the stereophonic effect of both voices hitting him at once. "As ordered," he quipped, tossing a quick salute before hiding behind Tommy.

Dil came up behind Phil. "You taking bets on this?"

Phil considered for a moment, but then shook his head. "No, I don't think I'd get away with my life if they found out."

Dil sighed disappointedly. "Pity. I was hoping for short odds on Kimi."

Beaker's voice came out in it's permanent monotone over the PA. "Alright, the first races are about to begin. Please take your marks for the younger age groups. Older students, no pushing, you'll all get a turn."

This last part seemed directed at Kimi and Lil, who were all but screaming to be allowed to race.

Chuckie observed this all from a distance and was struggling to refrain from biting his nails.

Oh well. At least this would be a close one. And he wouldn't have to be involved at all.

A few minutes later, the crowd roared around him as the scoreboard lit up with the first results of the day were put up – the junior sprints were over, with Pacific House earning a narrow lead to begin the day.

Yep, Chuckie decided, it feels pretty good to just be able to sit back and watch.

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please review.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Day at the Races**

Acepilot

AN – Sorry this took so long, but Act 4 will be out early next week, I promise, which will make up for this one being both late and not as good as Act 2.

Disclaimer – characters are property of KlaskyCsupo.

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Act 3

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Phil was waiting to congratulate Dil as his housemate came running off the track, waving jauntily to a screaming section of the crowd that was clad in mostly green. The orange-haired speed-demon grinned, slowing to a jog, before launching into a forward roll and landing on one knee and spreading his arms wide, displaying himself to his "adoring audience".

"Yeah, yeah, speed freak, we've still got the rest of the day to go," Phil reminded him, grabbing him by the back of the collar and hauling him to his feet.

"I hope not. My deodorant is going to give out," Dil told him.

At the other end of the track, Kimi and Lil were gearing up to go. "Scared, Kim-Kim?" Lil teased, all but glaring at the other girl.

"Of you? Don't make me laugh." Kimi stretched idly. "You're going to rue the day you decided to take me on, DeVille."

The crowds were spared the scenes of bloodshed as Lil and Kimi suddenly found themselves moving against their will. Phil and Dil lifted a surprised Lil off the ground and carried her off one way, while Tommy and Chuckie had to drag Kimi kicking and screaming in another.

"Perhaps we should all just calm down, huh?" Phil suggested to the girls who were practically screaming for each other's blood.

His suggestion cooled the simmering females…until Lil edged Kimi out in their opening event. Then it was just up to the boys to look to each other for ideas.

"You know," Phil muttered to Tommy on one occasion that they managed to leave the girls to Chuckie and Dil, "I don't know why they can never hold these events when it's clouded over." He looked up at the clear blue sky, the bright sun shining down on him, and felt that he would probably need to reapply sunscreen sooner rather than later.

"You actually take the time to think about these things?" Tommy asked, flopping down on a nearby patch of uninhabited grass.

"Alright, Tommy - you've got to relax, man," Phil drawled, sitting down next to his friend. "I mean, I know that you're nervous, and you're probably right to be, but you're never going to win anything if you make yourself sick."

Tommy inhaled deeply. "You're right," he admitted.

"I am?" Phil asked, somewhat confused. He wasn't right very often, after all.

"I'm gonna be sick."

Phil turned away just in time. "Oh."

"Pickles!" Pangborn's voice boomed over the PA. "Please refrain from throwing up on a part of the track we're actually going to use."

Lil just caught Phil's reply on the breeze. She hoped, for Phil's sake, that Pangborn hadn't.

Chuckie turned to her. "Look, Lil, I've got to ask…why does it matter so much which one of you is better? I mean…you're best friends. Shouldn't it be a cause of _happiness_ when your friend wins?"

Lil took a deep breath, and let it out to a count of eight.

Then she turned to face him.

A part of Chuckie's mind told him he should be running at this point. He'd seen the same expression on too many female's faces in his time. It meant – 'Be afraid. Be very afraid.'

Occasionally, it meant 'I have the wind and you better not comment on it,' but more often than not, it was just 'Be afraid.'

Lil spoke with utterly unnerving calmness. "Chuckie," she said, sweetly. "Dear, sweet Chuckie."

He caught Dil out of the corner of his eye and tried to get the younger Pickles over to help. But Dil, who had reacquired his giant green top hat, simply grinned at him and kicked back on the grass in a sort of "This oughta be a good show" manner.

"Are you aware of what today is?"

"Tuesday?" Chuckie suggested.

"It's school athletics day, Chuckie," she told him, never losing the siren call quality in her voice. "It's the one day of the year when we are no longer all members of the one school. We are no longer friends. We are arch-rivals."

Chuckie braced himself for the explosion.

Surprisingly, it didn't come.

"I came here today with my mind set on forgetting about all that, and having a good time with my friends. The one of them sane enough not to want to compete."

Chuckie felt like pointing out that _he_ hadn't wanted to compete either, but quickly thought the better of it.

"But, then – " it was at this point Lil's voice started to rise, "_she_ had to ruin it! She had to get competitive! And now, I've got to prove her wrong!"

"You have to prove you're…not competitive?" Chuckie asked, having lost the train of conversation.

He saw Dil slap his forehead.

Lil simply went bright red and left in a gigantic huff.

"Phil DeVille wins the senior grade sprints for Pacific House," Beaker's voice announced over the PA. "One late scratching – Tommy Pickles for Atlantic. Please avoid the section of the track near the shot-put circle while we get the sawdust."


End file.
